Tag Archives: Harry Potter

Summertime always feels like a good time to read. I wonder if Barnes and Noble sees a boost in their sales during the summer? I don’t necessarily have more time to read, being as I still have three kids and still do my jobs, etc, but I just want to read more. It feels right. I picture my teenage self, laying by the pool and reading all afternoon, or staying up late into the night, just to finish the novel I’d been plowing through. Which, by the way, I did just last weekend. I stayed up late until I finally finished the Fifth Wave series. Was super tired. Was totally worth it.

The more I’ve read in the past month, the more I have been mourning the end of the stories. I think that may be why I love a good series so much… it goes on for a little longer. Even though a single book is over, I know the story will continue for another book or two. But when it isn’t a series, and I only get a couple hundred pages of a story, I’m sad at the end. I don’t want to leave the story behind, or let the characters go. It feels like I’m losing friends like they’re moving away and I know I won’t see them again.

That might be why I read my favorite series over and over again. For instance, I’ve read the Harry Potter books countless times. Remember teenage me, staying up late to finish a book? That was every single time a new Harry Potter book came out. In preparation for the book to come out, I would reread all the other books, trying to glean little details that might be mentioned in the next installment. Then when the movies started coming out, I started to read the books in preparation for the movies, too. It was a whole thing – and I know those fellow Potterheads are just nodding and smiling right along with me. But I won’t just stop reading because it’s sad when it’s over. I just love that feeling.

Well, it’s time for a little Christmas update! We had so much fun hosting my family here for a few days, eating a TON of food (can you say 8lbs of prime rib?) and sweets, and giving and getting copious amounts of presents. Hubby and I spent most of Christmas Eve leading worship at three services at our church, thankful that our kids could enjoy the day with family, even if it was without us. Here is a little more about our Christmas, and what we are currently doing…

Smelling || my new candles from my brother and his girlfriend. They. Are. Magical. And no pun intended!

Playing || dress up! In addition to a few new games and building-type toys, the big kids got several new dress up outfits, and they’ve been hamming it up big time. They both love playing dress up and pretending, so between my mom and me, we spoiled them with some new outfits.

Eating || this hunk of prime rib. It was so amazing I forgot to take a picture of it cooked before we ate it all!

Enjoying || several days with family we don’t see as often. It might’ve felt chaotic with so many people and so much stuff, but I totally enjoyed it.

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Waiting || to take down our decorations and lights until New Years. I really enjoy the way my house looks when it’s this time of year, so I am rarely in a hurry to take them down.

Anticipating || seeing Moana later this week! I’m excited to go to the theatre again, and I’m hoping the kids all do as well this time as they did when we saw Finding Dory a few months ago. Snacks seems to be the best thing for maximizing their attention span.

Well, that’s pretty much it for what we’ve been up to. Here are a few more pictures that don’t really fit anywhere, but are super cute. I sure love my people.

I have been waiting for this book for a million years. Okay, well, I’ve been waiting since the The Deathly Hallows came out for JK Rowling to announce that she had a little more to say. You can imagine I was thrilled when I heard that there was a new part of the story.

I will say that reading a play has always been a little weird for me, so when I realized that the book was actually a script, I was slightly disappointed. I love Rowling’s style, even in The Casual Vacancy, so to hear that this was just her story, and not truly her writing, was a little sad.

That being said, I REALLY enjoyed reading it! Yes, there was an element of the enjoyment that was happiness to be immersed in the wizarding world again. I mean, muggles get me down, ya know? But I actually enjoyed the story and getting a glimpse into the adult lives of Harry and the other characters I’ve loved so well for so long. ((Here are where the spoilers start hopping in there… if you plan to read it but haven’t yet, watch out!)) It was an interesting story and concept that Voldemort had procreated (yikes) so I had to read it in basically one sitting to ease my mind.

I didn’t really like the time travel obsession of the story. I mean, I get the time-turner idea and how they wanted to go back, and then they HAD to go back again to fix things. But it was confusing and convoluted, especially when I wasn’t seeing it, I was just reading a script that was inevitably less detailed than it would’ve been in book form. It also raised questions of “what if?” and “why this?” in several situations. Like, if the Potter’s house was under the Fidelius charm, why could everyone see it when they travelled back? And wasn’t it a little insulting to Cedric’s previously upstanding character to make him have one bad experience and turn to Dark Magic? I always liked Cedric! And Amos seemed old and bitter, but then I guess I understand that losing a child could probably make you crazy.

Anyway, overall, I’d recommend that you read it. Whether you’re a Potterhead or not, you’ll probably enjoy it. I know several people who were disappointed in it, but we all probably had unrealistic expectations, since JK Rowling didn’t actually write this one. It’s a quick read, so you’ve got nothing to lose. I enjoyed it, and plan to read it again once I’ve let my copy circulate through the friends who are borrowing it! If you’ve read it, tell me what you think!

Y’all, I know I said this with the last currently, but I wasn’t kidding: I’m a summer slacker! It’s glorious. I just spent a couple of days at the lake with Hubby’s family and I am refreshed. I will be at the lake again this weekend for our cousin’s bachelorette. I am looking (far) forward to a September week at the beach. I am hoping for at least two weeks’ worth of pool days before it closes for the summer. Our kitchen is full of ripe, vine-fresh tomatoes and huge okra, yellow squash and colorful peppers. I am summer happy.

So now, I’ll give you a real update on a few more things that I’m Currently up to…

Exploring || how to entertain three kids for the last few weeks of summer. I mentioned the pool; it’s hard to be there when all three kids are awake. We either miss D’s morning nap, or we have to wait till everyone’s afternoon naps are finished. Or else I’m only taking one or two kids.

Hearting || our local children’s museum. We’ve had a membership there since EK was my only babe, but we’ve loved it every time we’ve walked in the door.

Watching || still Gilmore Girls. I know y’all think I’m going really slowly, but we just haven’t watched much tv this summer. I’ve been reading LOTR and now the new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (fangirling!) so I haven’t been spending my nights watching tv. But anyway, I’m committed to finishing the old GG before the new season comes on Netflix in November!

Eating || popcorn! Skinny Pop, Boom Chicka Pop, and some sort of Himalayan Pink Salt flavor from our local grocer, but I’m addicted to the salty popcorn! I ate some Trader Joe’s kettle corn, and it was good – but I think it’s the salty that I love.

(If for some reason you have missed out on the glory that is the Harry Potter series, there are spoilers below, so beware!)

Nerd alert: I am the world’s biggest Harry Potter fan.

Alright, maybe not the biggest. But I’m definitely one of them. I’ve read every single book at least ten times, and watched the movies countless more. I take all the Buzzfeed quizzes, I follow J. K. Rowling on Twitter, and y’all, I have a (very active) Pottermore account. I was sorted into Hufflepuff, in case you wondered, and I’ve totally gained respect for the badgers. When the final movie came out, my friend Lauren, Hubby and I planned a party before the midnight premiere. We invited all our (nerdy) friends, decorated my house in Gryffindor colors, and made a feast worthy of Christmas in the Great Hall, complete with fondant golden snitches and butterbeer.

These snitches took HOURS. So imagine my delight when I hear that our local children’s museum’s annual fundraiser this year has a theme of my favorite childhood (life?) book series. I immediately went about recruiting friends, planning for a babysitter, and debating whether I would go with the suggested “spellbinding cocktail” attire or go straight for the dress robes. The chance to attend a real-life event based on the fantasy world in which I felt I could belong (I mean, did my Hogwarts letter get lost?!) was more exciting than I probably should admit.

Naturally the evening was fabulous, with lots of friends, magic wands, House banners, firewhisky, and floating candles from the Great Hall. It was as if my childhood dream had come true. You see, I’ve grown up with Harry. I attended midnight book releases and movie premieres. I waited months (almost every time) for the next installment of the story, felt the exhilaration of nail-biting Quidditch matches, thrill of new love, and sadness of losing friends. I trembled in the graveyard when Cedric was killed and Voldemort came back. I wept uncontrollably when Dumbledore died. I high-fived the nearest person when I read that Ron and Hermione finally got together. These characters feel like my friends.

It may be a little ridiculous, but I think part of the reason I still love it all so much (aside from how obviously entertaining and endearing it is) may be that I’m hanging on to my childhood. I’m almost 30, I have three kids, I’ve been married for 6 years, and all of those things are so… adultish. But this piece of literature, this familiar world and enveloping story are all a huge part of my childhood, big enough to make me feel like I’m Harry’s age again whenever I lose myself in it. My excitement hasn’t faded with my knowledge of the ending.

Any other HP fans? Or maybe you have another book or movie that you connect with your childhood? Tell me about it – I want to hear!

The other day, I fell. I fell deep into an internet rabbit hole… of Harry Potter memes. It was so gloriously nerdy and incredibly entertaining that I decided I’d share the nerdgasms with y’all. I’ve scoured the internet and found some of my all-time favorite comical HP memes. Enjoy!

I’m linking up this week with Becky at Choose Happy for her Currently link-up! If you’ve never joined us, you should! I love reading what everyone is currently up to. What’s going on with you?

Reading || I actually finished The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton! I’ve been working on it for an embarrassingly long time… but I’m done! I loved it, I just didn’t have much time to be reading. Anyway, I’ve just started the first book in the Maze Runner series. So far, it seems like the Hunger Games or the Divergent series in that it’s a dystopian society and there are a lot of weird things going on. It was on my “recommended books” list from Amazon based on what I’d read, and was rated pretty well. I’ll let you know how it is!

Watching || The Harry Potter movies! We finally got them out of storage and are watching them! We’ve watched the first two, and my withdrawal is finally satiated. Hopefully we’ll get through the eight movies before the baby gets here, but who knows!

Loving || the new tile in our bathroom! Everything is supposed to be finished and put back together by the end of the week, so naturally I’m really excited to use my own bathroom again. It’s been interesting either going to the hallway bathroom or all the way downstairs (to the newer, nicer one of course!) to do everything, and I’ll be glad to be back in my regular routine… upstairs.

Preparing || our freezer and our nursery! I’ve got everything to make two recipes worth of muffins, and enough frozen fruit to feed 1000 people breakfast smoothies! I wanted to at least have some breakfasts taken care of so that the morning routine with the kids wouldn’t go awry if I could help it. Having a healthy breakfast is a priority for me, and starting the day smoothly helps the rest of the day stay along the same lines. When my kids are throwing their breakfasts in the floor or refusing to eat them (because that obviously happens sometimes – FOR NO REASON AT ALL) it can throw my mood off. I planned for smoothies they love and muffins they devour that are also healthy! I’m excited about it. The nursery is now clear of bathroom stuff (even if our closet isn’t) and has been rearranged. The floor is super clean, the drawers are full of clean clothes, and I even have some diapers! I call that progress! Now if I could pack a hospital bag, I’d really be in business.

I mean, it’s coming along, right?Messy but it’s happening!

Coveting ||this Lily-Jade diaper bag. I saw it on Instagram a while back, and have been looking at it again and again ever since. It’s beautiful, flexible, and well-made, but totally out of my price range. The SALE PRICE is $295 and I just can’t justify it. But it sure is one beautiful bag!

Celebrating || the Fourth of July! We had a day of eating red, white and blue donuts, and spending time with friends! Not many photos, but it was a good day! We even let the kids stay up for the local fireworks, watched from the elementary school in our neighborhood- the perfect spot!

This girl loves donuts!This is J’s only patriotic swag. (Sorry Hubby, for posting this photo bomb, but I was only trying to get the photo of J!)If you’ve got a couple of toddlers, you know how tough it is to get a family photo!The only photo from the fireworks… J sleepily snuggling my friend Lauren and loving his glow sticks! They are a must for fireworks, am I right?

Well, we’ve had a busy week, and things just keep getting busier as we prepare for our little guy! What has been going on with you? What are you preparing for? Link up and join us!